Grassroots Methane Capture

March 3, 2014

Understanding the basics about methane capture can provide us all with a great resource for our energy arsenal. Start with landfills. There is a lot of free energy out there that can be captured and used in places of need.

According to the EPA, as of July 2013, there are 621 operational LFG energy projects in the United States and approximately 450 landfills that are good candidates for projects.

Of the 2,400 or so currently operating or recently closed MSW landfills in the United States, more than 570 have LFG utilization projects. EPA estimates that approximately 450 additional MSW landfills could turn their gas into energy, producing enough electricity to power 500,000 homes.

The U.S. EPA’s Landfill Methane Outreach Program (LMOP) is a voluntary assistance program that helps to reduce methane emissions from landfills by encouraging the recovery and use of landfill gas (LFG) as an energy resource. LMOP forms partnershipswith communities, landfill owners, utilities, power marketers, states, project developers, tribes, and nonprofit organizations to overcome barriers to project development by helping them assess project feasibility, find financing, and market the benefits of project development to the community. EPA launched LMOP to encourage productive use of this resource as part of the United States’ commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Writer, documentary producer, and director. Meyers is a contributor to CleanTechnica, and founder of Green Streets MediaTrain, a communications connection and eLearning hub. As an independent producer, he's been involved in the development, production and distribution of television and distance learning programs for both the education industry and corporate sector. He also is an avid gardener and loves sustainable innovation.